Antarctica under threat from human visitors, Australian environmental scientist says

Linda Hunt, Sam Ikin Updated
Mon Jun 23 12:47:20 EST 2014

Photo

Adelie penguins near Davis Station, Antarctica.

Australian Antarctic Division: IA11230, Frederique Olivier

Antarctica needs to be better protected from human visitors, including tourists and researchers, a leading Australian environmental scientist says.

And new research has found some areas of the icy continent are poorly protected from the swelling number of people making the journey south.

Antarctica is regarded as one of the planet's last true wilderness areas, untouched by agriculture, mining or urban development, and is protected as a natural reserve.

Even walking on moss beds would leave footprints that would last for decades, if not centuries.

Martin Riddle, Australian Antarctic Division

Martin Riddle, an environmental scientist with the Australian Antarctic Division, said a rapidly growing human presence is threatening its unique biodiversity.

More than 40,000 people visit Antarctica every year and numbers are growing as more research facilities are built.

"Wherever people go they take some risk to the environment and particularly in the Antarctic," Mr Riddle said.

"As more people go there the risk does increase unless we put in place precautions to prevent that."

He continued: "The threats are the sort of things that can happen everywhere; the introduced species, pollution, physical disturbance... even walking on moss beds would leave footprints that would last for decades, if not centuries."

Antarctica's ice-free fringes 'under threat'

Most Antarctic flora and fauna are concentrated in the ice-free coastal fringes of the continent, which is where the majority of people visit.

The Madrid Protocol makes provision for Specially Protected Areas, but a new study shows less than 2 per cent of the ice-free areas are adequately protected.

The study concludes that better protection is a necessity, but researchers fear it could take years for any real action can be taken.

According to the Committee for Environmental Protection's Ewan McIvor: "There are some large scale areas that have unique biodiversity in which there are currently no protected areas."